With modern technology it is very easy to answer the age old question, “how much longer until we are there?”  However this requires a continual, and a bit annoying interaction between parents and kids.  We discovered that if Lily can track our progress along a route, she is much more content.

Our first iteration of the follow along map was really basic.  If you followed the advice of our blog post titled Finding Our Way, this map will be very easy to create.  Simply take a screenshot of the map and place the image in a Word document.  Then add in some waypoint markers (I usually use numbers) and print it out.  I find the easiest way to add the waypoint markers is to add a text box in the Word document with the number or letter in it and then just place it on the image where you want it.

For a bit more advanced version you and add in small facts or interesting history about the various locations.  As RVers, we drive through a ton of towns and places and all of them have a bit of a story.  By bringing up a bit of the history of the places you are traveling through it can help spur conversation or even envoke some great imagination time thinking about what life would have been like.